Henry964

In July I am flying to Stuttgart with our local Porsche Club to visit the factory, and also to take part in a 2 day driver education in Hockenheim circuit and... to drive 997s in German Autobahns!!!!
I am experienced in high speed driving but with lesser cars. I have never driven a 996/997

should I be specially carefull? or... are this wonderful cars rather easy to drive?

Thanks for your answers

ultimate

The 997 is amazingly easy to drive fast if PSM is on. Otherwise, better know the nuances!

BD997

pasm or no pasm...its like riding a bike...you get used to it and better as you practice ;-)

holminator

I've only had mine up to 120 mph so far, but so far so good. It's very stable, but I'd recommend pushing it harder (many 20-30 percent more) after the apex than you would for a normal car for better control in the turns to compensate for the effects associated with the rear engine weight. Moreover, it's fun! There's a stretch of Autobahn that passes by Hockenheim that you can really open up the throttle on.

FredGarvin

I disagree. The ONLY time this car is stable over 120mph is on a glass smooth road with no cross winds. If the road isn't very good and you are in gusty cross winds the 997 feels more nervous than Osama Bin Laden at a Navy Seal convention. BE CAREFUL!

Gary R.

I disagree... Maybe you need an alignment. I've had mine at 125+ on a two lane parkway and it was as steady as a rock. I didn't feel as though I couldn't have kept accelerating well beyond that point other than the possibility of problems with entering traffic. .

FredGarvin

I sure hope you are right. My car is in the shop as we speak having everything checked out. I'll keep you posted.

jboyko

Fred you are probably right. I think that the car is pretty squirly, as you had described. Gary is probably driving on the Taconic parkway. That road by my recollection is fairly smooth, and lined with tall trees. Kind of "a glass smooth road with no cross winds".

jb

sportscarfanatic

PASM and PSM are two different things, KEEP PSM ON on the Autobahn.

sportscarfanatic

My max speed on the Autobahn is 310km/h, if anybody breaks that record, let me know! ;-)

PDQ PDK CAYMAN S

I have my car to over 140 on the track and hit the brakes hard. I think the car is very stable in all wind conditions and the surface is far from perfect. Wind will effect any vehicle. I have done this many times on different days with various conditions except rain.

Gary R.

It actually was the Meritt and your description is pretty accurate, wouldn't go so far as to say "glass" smooth though. OTOH I have had it over 100MPH MANY times on the major highways here in windy conditions this past winter and had no issues. Is it possible the rear spoiler isn't coming out at 70MPH as it should be on Fred's car?

I'll be at Watkins Glen in June for a two-day DE, have to see how fast I can go then I guess...

JohnnyBahamas

If you mean fast in a straight line my experience at 140 is that the 997S was solid and seemed to get more solid the faster it went, which is more than I can say for my C5 Vette which got very light in the front end.

If you mean fast into and out of corners over and over again the 997S, in my experience, scared the hell out of me until I starting braking later and carving hard through the apex while come up on, and staying on, the throttle. When I load the corner that way the grip and solidity of the 997S is amazing... really, really amazing in fact.

Nick

In the most recent Car Magazine, the writer in reviewing the 997 Cab. spoke of this problem. He claimed it was very unstable at high speeds in windy conditions because of the rear weight bias. The same problem would apply to the Coupe and probably be more magnified because it is lighter in weight.

He did like the Cab but went on to write that the difference between the S Cab and regular Cab was marginal and paying more for the S was a waste of money.

Henry964

Thanks everyone!!!!!

I suspect that cars that Porsche rents for these trips have PASM in a "always on" position, as they can´t afford foreigners having bad accidents on german roads and returning home in boxes!!!!!